It’s pretty taboo to complain about a decent house when so many people live in substandard homes. Ours keeps us warm, has a lot of space, is so much more than what a lot of people have. And let me just say that I do have a thankful heart for the house that God has provided for us. It has allowed us to live debt free, and for that I will always be thankful!

But… It’s far from my dream house for sure. It’s been a “project” for the 8 years we’ve lived in it and it’s still a project. There is painting that needs to be done, unfinished walls and siding, floors that need a LOT of attention. Those are cosmetic issues that likely will change one day. I don’t know what day that will be but it’ll be one of them.

I’ve found it increasingly hard to function in this house. I become overwhelmed by the piles of junk that just end up everywhere. Granted we have 5 kids and clutter is going to happen. But it just seems to compound till I can barely breathe, never mind figure out how to deal with the problem.

Since there’s not much I can do about the constant state of project that the house is in I’ve decided to take drastic measures and work on the contents of the house. Some of the biggest issues is that stuff just doesn’t have a “place.” And you know the mantra “a place for everything and everything in it’s place.” That’s a good one. When stuff doesn’t have a good place then it means there’s too much stuff.

I ran across a blog post someone did about how to have a clutter free home in 8 weeks. I’m taking that challenge! The basic idea is that you spend 30 minutes a day (minus weekends) for 8 weeks. Focusing daily on different areas of your house and getting rid of 10 things a day. By the end of the 40 days there will be 400 fewer things cluttering your life! How’s that for awesome!?!

I’m excited about it. I’ve known for awhile that I needed to hunker down and just get things purged, but again the overwhelm of the enormity of the task just gets me down. Anyone can do 30 minutes a day!! So I’m jumping in on Monday with this 8 week challenge! I’m looking forward to a less stressful environment in this old house when I’m through.

Always before I’ve struggled when it comes to getting rid of things because my frugal side doesn’t want to just “toss” things that are still useful, or could be anyway. But this time I’m going to be ruthless. I’m going to list some things on craigslist, and I may make a Goodwill donation trip, but beyond that I’m just going to purge! It needs to go so it’s going to go!

Anyone want to do this with me?

One Response to “This Old House”

Sounds great I started tonight! We are feeling the need to as well…living in town in a 1030 sq ft house 2 bedrooms and 5 bodies seems to get a bit tight at times. 🙂 But we’re on our way to debit free…so glad to hear you all are…that is a BLESSING in and of itself!!